The Avengers and Me
by Starships and Stopwatches
Summary: A girl gets woken up by a few superheroes in the middle of the night. Chaos ensues. Just a bit of Clint whump.


We reach the end of the hallway; only to find the one way out is a narrow, winding staircase heading up. I shake my head at it, doubting our luck. The sound of footsteps becoming nearer snaps me back into reality. I look at the staircase with disgust. "Hey!" one of our pursuers yells. I bolt up the stairs on instinct, the others close behind. About halfway up, I hear footsteps coming down. It seems these people aren't as stupid as I thought they were. I look around for a way out, like a vent or something, but find nothing. So there we stand, cornered on a narrow stairway, with no way out. The two groups arrive on both sides. I have an arrow notched and ready, but I'm not prepared for the number of attackers that show. But, behind the green suits of the H.Y.D.R.A. agents, I see a flash of black and then- Hey, why would I tell you that now? I'm the draw-it-out-for-as-long-as-possible kind of person. Before you hear how it ends, let's hear how it began. It was August 19th, the night before school started. I was sleeping soundly until I heard a racket outside. 'Must be the neighbors,' I thought. I looked at the clock. 11:55. I went back to sleep. After what seems like a few minutes, I heard a creak from across the room. I sat up to find that five faces stared back at me. I stared back, my eyes wide. "Well, this is awkward." one guy says. "Yeah, funnier than a few minutes ago," Another added. Quick as lightning, I turned on my bedside light. I could see their faces more clearly. "Hi, we're the Avengers Initiative. I'm Natalia Alianovna Romanova, Agent 1128983 of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. Just call me Natasha. This is Captain America, Steve Rogers. Steve," the only female of the group turned to one of the men in the group who looked about thirty. "Ma'am," he said, holding out his hand. I shook it in shock. I could feel a slight tremble in his hand, the sign of adrenaline still rushing through him. "Anthony Stark, Iron Man," an older man turned to me offering to shake as well. "Call me Tony. Genius Billionaire Superhero from New York," I shook his hand with a firm grip. "Thor, god of thunder," a man with long blonde hair reached out and grabbed my already outstretched hand. "I am glad to meet thee Midguardian." He greeted me in an accent that I couldn't quite put my finger on. "And, as of right now, lastly we have Doctor Bruce Banner, also known as Hulk." "Hi," a man that didn't look like much on a hulky guy shook my hand as well. He read the look of confusion on my face. "Well, I turn into a huge green rage monster." Tony looked at me and gestured toward Natasha. "And here we have Natalie Rushman, my old personal assistant." Natasha glared at him. "You sure know how to hold a grudge, Stark. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here!" _ "Yeah, and if it wasn't for you two's little fight out there, there would still be six of us!" Steve cut in. "Wait, did you say six?" Everyone fell silent at my comment. Even the very-sarcastic Tony shut his mouth. "Yes," Natasha was first to recover. "We originally had six people, ten minutes ago. Then, he was captured by an enemy organization called HYDRA. Your house was the first one we saw, so we need your help." I could tell this person was important to all of them, judging from the concern I could see in all of their eyes. "Who exactly are we looking for?" I could practically feel the tension in the room. "Clinton Francis Barton, Agent 1128964 of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. Codename Hawkeye. He's a professional archer, assassin, and has been with SHIELD for about twenty years." Tony didn't seem to understand the seriousness of the situation. "Yeah, the snake took Legolas and we need your help to snatch back the sniper. Six is the lucky number. You in?" I took a deep breath and replied, "Sure, I'll help." Tony did a little happy dance as Natasha rolled her eyes. "Coulson, we need a jet at our location. Now." Natasha said as she pulled me up. "Let's head out," Somehow Natasha had managed to disarm the security alarm on the house. "SHIELD skills" she had called it. One by one we climbed out the window. Out on the street, I see a small vehicle that looked like a cross between a star speeder and an airplane. "A quinjet," Natasha had explained hurriedly. We jumped in. Natasha sat down at the front and mindlessly tapped the controls. She seemed more focused on the empty seat next to her than she was on keeping us in the air. We all sat in silence until Natasha's voice rang through the speaker system. "Initiating landing sequence. Please stay seated. That means you, Stark." Tony rolled his eyes at the comment. I looked out the window. We were nowhere near the ground. Suddenly, a big, black object below us came into view. "What's that?" I asked. "The helicarrier. SHIELD owned of course." We landed softly a few moments later on the helicarrier. One by one, we filed out. A man with an eye patch and a long black leather coat walked up greeted us. A shorter man joined him a few seconds later. "Coulson," Natasha started. But Coulson cut her off. "What happened?" he asked quickly. "HYDRA attacked us at our weakest. Took Barton, said something about giving him back to Loki, and took off." Coulson nodded. "How much time do we have?" the man in the eye patch inquired. "They didn't say, Director, but I'm guessing about morning until Loki can really get him to do anything terrible again." Coulson shook his head. "Poor guy. Being mind-controlled once is bad enough. But twice? Geez. What do you think, Director Fury?" Fury, or the guy with the eye patch replied, "I think they all suit up, and we grab this young women something to kick butt with." With that, he turned, and motioned for us to follow. We walked forever through endless halls and corridors until, finally, we came across a room marked "WEAPONRY". We shuffled in after Fury and Coulson. "This is what I'm thinking," Fury said as he handed me a huge gun that almost made me topple forward. "No, how 'bout this, boss?" Coulson handed me a stun gun that didn't even look like it would protect me from a fly. "How about this?" said a voice behind me. Steve came up holding a bow and quiver full of arrows. "Hawkeye's extras." Natasha stared at them as sadness filled her eyes. "Perfect," she said, sounding stronger than she looked. "Now let's go." We waved a goodbye to Fury and Coulson and boarded the quinjet once again. The ride was silent and awkward. I was glad when it was over, but not so thrilled about what lay ahead. "Avengers, welcome to HYDRA." The moment we landed, the rest was a blur. I remember just bits and pieces. Explosions, flying shields, flying arrows, flying hammers, flying gods with hammers, and a bunch of other flying things. Oh, and did I mention a huge green rage monster? As promised. Sorry, back to the story. As we rounded a corner inside the base, Tony seemed to notice this as well. "We are FLYING!" he commented sarcastically. And loudly. The next corner we rounded, I noticed the walls had changed. They were no longer solid, but were long, steel bars. It looked like a prison. "Guys?" a voice called from down the hall. Natasha's eyes were suddenly filled with relief and fear as she started sprinting down the passageway. She stopped abruptly about halfway down. I couldn't quite make out who was behind the bars, but I didn't want to move and break the silence. "Tasha, good timing. See that guard over there?" the person whispered. Natasha turned and noticed the guard far to her left that hadn't seemed to have noticed them yet. She nodded. "Well, he has the key." Tony smiled. "I got this," he started towards the guard who quickly spun around, ready to fight. Maybe he had noticed us. On instinct, my hand reached my pocket, and in a second the man was on the ground. Everyone stared at me in awe, minus one. "Well, there you go. Sorry, didn't see you there until you electrocuted him. Uhh, where did you get that, anyway? Never mind. Grab the keys, will you?" I grabbed the keys off the man's belt as I shoved the stun gun back in my pocket. Phil had forgotten to take it back in the rush so I had thought, "Why not? It can only help." and brought it with me. As I handed Natasha the keys, I got a better look at the guy who had not noticed me until I electrocuted someone. He looked about forty, with grey eyes and brown hair. "Good, grey eyes. I wasn't looking forward to blue." Hawkeye laughed halfheartedly at Tony's comment as Natasha opened the door for him with a creak. "Well, you were about ten minutes off from regretting coming. You know, it's not enjoyable for me either," "Come on, have a heart!" Tony replied sarcastically. "He said I have a heart, doesn't that prove something?" Barton countered, picking up his weapons, a bow and full quiver identical to mine, that had been a few feet from his reach. "It proves you're a target. A pretty easy to locate one," Natasha butted in. "If Loki knew where we were from that far away, it's bound to be easier for him here. Did you see him?" Clint nodded; looking like it was not a moment he enjoyed. "Where do you think we should go?" Before anyone could answer Steve's question, a guard walked up behind us. We turned just in time to see the guard press in alarm on the wall. "I just say, RUN!" Tony yelled. Hawkeye pointed the opposite way we came. "Through that door, make a left, two rights, a left, straight through that hall, and another left. Take the third door to the right. Got it?" he told Natasha. She nodded. "Слева, две справа, слева, прямо, налево. третья дверь направо. Got it. What about you?" "I'll hold them off," He smiled mischievously. Natasha looked at him nervously. "Alone?" she asked. "There's not much they can do except get their butts kicked." But Natasha still wouldn't budge. "Tasha, I'll be fine. Now go!" Reluctantly, she turned and led the group to the back door. We fought our way through first left, two rights, and left. Finally we reached the corridor. Also finally, back to the present moment. Enough with the flashbacks! Anyway, do you know how this story ends? Well, I sure don't. If you do, I'd sure like to know if we get cornered again. Please tell. Okay, I digress. Story time! We reach the end of the hallway; only to find the one way out is a narrow, winding staircase heading up. I shake my head at it, doubting our luck. The sound of footsteps becoming nearer snaps me back into reality. I look at the staircase with disgust. "Hey!" one of our pursuers yells. I bolt up the stairs on instinct, the others close behind. About halfway up, I hear footsteps coming down. It seems these people aren't as stupid as I thought they were. I look around for a way out, like a vent or something, but find nothing. So there we stand, cornered on a narrow stairway, with no way out. The two groups arrive on both sides. I have an arrow notched and ready, but I'm not prepared for the number of attackers that show. But, behind the green suits of the H.Y.D.R.A. agents, I see a flash of black then in two seconds, our enemies are down. A few more seconds, Hawkeye is in the Black Widow's arms. "Told you," he tells her. "Now налево и третья дверь справа." Tony shakes his head. "Okay. I'm fed up with all this speaking-in-another-language-thing. I may be a genius, but I'll admit, languages are not my thing." Natasha shoots him a look of annoyance and snaps, "He was just saying the rest of the directions, Stark." She gestures for us to follow, and she takes off again, heading to the left. "Coulson," Hawkeye speaks into an earpiece that Natasha hands him as we run down the next hall and out the third door on the right. There we find our quinjet waiting for us. "You're good with directions," Steve says as we board quickly. Finally, Coulson responds. "Good, you're okay." "We're just heading back, sir." Natasha says into her earpiece. She and Hawkeye climb into the cockpit, while we take the back. "What's the status on Loki?" Barton sighs and looks straight out the window. Natasha answers for him. "We don't know, only Clint saw him. I don't think he's in the mood. Maybe a debriefing later, but not now." A short silence on the other end. "Okay. Meet you back at base." "Yes sir." After twenty minutes of a not-so-silent-ride filled with comments about different things like technique, skill, combat, and occasional shawarma, we finally land back at the SHIELD base. After a few quick exchanges of gratitude, weapon returns, and goodbyes to Natasha and Clint (who decided to stay back to attend Clint's to medical problems), the rest of the team, a pilot, and I head back to my house so I can actually show up the first day of school. We land on the street in front of my house and sneak me in as quietly as possible. A few for words of thanks, and they're gone before you can say Loki'd. My mom comes in five minutes later to get me up for school, and finds me fast asleep, in regular clothes, stun gun still in my pocket. Did this really happen? I don't know. I'll just never forget the time I accidentally electrocuted someone while throwing my clothes in the laundry room. Had to come up with a pretty elaborate story for that. Well, actually, still trying to make that up. Uh oh. Here comes Dad. RUN! 


End file.
